


Take These Broken Wings

by Vera (Vera_DragonMuse)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Dragons, Harry Potter Fusion, M/M, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-25 08:42:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18257777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vera_DragonMuse/pseuds/Vera
Summary: Cisco enters the preserve on foot with Harry trailing behind him.An AU where the Flash crew aren't mutants, but latent wizards. A Harry Potter fusion.





	Take These Broken Wings

The instructions had Cisco apperating in a solid two miles away from the reserve. Despite the broom over his shoulder, they also had to walk. Harry followed along, humming something formless under his breath, apparently content to hold Cisco’s hand. 

The forest was lush and thick on either side of the dirt path. Quiet, except for the occasional rustle of a small animal in the underbrush. Cisco concentrated on walking, on keeping his breath even and calm. 

A thick metal gate rose up out of the misty May morning, vines weaving in and around as though it had been there some time. The bemused looking sculpture of a griffin head blinked away as they neared. 

“Password?” it cawed. 

“Scales, claws, and thunderous hiccups,” Cisco said dutifully. 

The griffin blinked, yawned and the gate creaked open. As they stepped through the illusion of the dirt path dropped away. The forest remained, but it had been tamed. Before them stood a circle of buildings, that looked rough hewed and utilitarian. 

Sitting on the front steps of the largest one was a man that matched the buildings. He had long red hair tied back in a braid, dense clouds of freckles over his face, neck, and what little other skin exposed to the eye. There were smile lines at the corners of his mouth and eyes. When he stood to greet them, Cisco saw slight stiffness in his right leg. A suggestion of a limp. 

“You must be the other consultant,” he extended his hand. The accent was British, but tempered with something else. “I’m Charlie Weasley.” 

“Cisco Ramon,” he tried to match the brisk cheer. “This is Harry Wells, he’s traveling with me.” 

“The muggle, I heard,” Charlie glanced at Harry, who looked calmly back at him before his attention wandered back to the trees. “Let’s get you both settled in and then I’ll explain more about the job.” 

He led them to one of the cabins. Cisco wasn’t surprised to find the inside much more comfortable than it appeared on the outside. There were two four poster beds (he really had to ask about that obsession, magical people LOVED four poster beds), a well appointed kitchen, and a bathroom with a shower and clawfoot tub. There were already a variety of medi-potions stocked on the shelves as well as special cleaners. 

“We have a mess if you want to eat with everyone else,” Charlie stayed in the doorway. “But it’s good to have your own place to cook if you want it.” 

“Thanks,” he put his broom in the hook by the door and turned to Harry. Then he emptied his pockets of their miniaturized luggage, setting them on the nightstand to deal with later. “Tired?” 

“No,” Harry looked absently at the rows of potions. “I’m okay.” 

“You want to stay here with a book or come with?” 

“I’ll stay with you.” 

It had been a shot in the dark. Harry couldn’t do much with books, but some part of him seemed to want to try and sometimes he prefered his solitude. 

“Great,” Cisco forced a cheery smile. “We’re ready for the debriefing then.” 

Charlie, to his credit, made no comment about Harry tagging along. Instead he led them back to the main building. There were a few more people inside, mostly gathered at a set of tables to the left eating plates laden down with food. To the right were a series of smaller rooms including what looked like some sort of conference room, currently unoccupied. 

One office door was locked and Charlie muttered under his breath to unlock it. 

“I’ll set you up with the password after we talk,” he gestured to the two desks crammed together. One was loaded down with parchment and quills, the other was distinctly empty. A third chair had been put under the window and Harry drifted into it. “I thought he might want to stay near you.” 

“Thank you,” Cisco swallowed hard. “That’s...thanks.” 

“Sure thing,” Charlie sat down behind the pile of parchment. “So that’s yours. We probably won’t be in here much either, but reports need to be written somewhere, right?” 

“That’s a rumor I’ve heard,” Cisco nodded. “I’m not much with a quill though.” 

“Muggle pens will work,” Charlie assured him. “Tech not so much, sorry.” 

“That’s fine, I’d run into that before,” he had a pen somewhere in his luggage. If not he could probably walk into the muggle town to get one. “So. Why am I here?” 

“Because the Council for Magical Animal Preservation in North America offered you a lot of money and some other incentives?” Charlie guessed. 

“They need a catchy acronym,” he grumbled. “But yeah, I know that’s why I’m here. What do they actually want me to do? They did the whole Secret Keeper spell-a-thon on me and then still didn’t tell me.”

“I suppose they’re being extra cautious,” the chair under Charlie went up on two legs, balancing him improbably backwards. He put his boots up on his desk. “How much do you know about dragons?” 

“I read that they exist in one of the ‘Whoops, You’re a Latent Wizard’ books from the Bureau of Mistakes,” he shrugged. “They didn’t spend a lot of time on it.” 

“Got it,” a scrub of a hand over his face, “that’s better than nothing. Dragons exist, there are several dozen species out there. For their own safety, we try to keep them in reserves. A lot of unethical magical folk will hunt and kill them for parts.”

“People suck,” Cisco nodded. “But at least they keep sucking in the same ways no matter what amazing powers they get.” 

Charlie snorted, “True. So North America has notoriously few dragons. Up until a year ago, all of them were located in a reserve in Arizona. This location is actually a preserve for some other magical species, mainly frost phoenixes and bearkin.” 

“I can guess on the birds, but what’s a bearkin?” 

“We used to think they were like werewolves, humans with a curse, but they’re more like...bears that can sometimes take human form. Mostly they want to chat about the weather, fishing, and if someone could scratch an itch.” 

“Okay, that’s awesome. I want to meet a bear person. But obviously you’re telling me about dragons so...” 

“Six months ago, one landed about halfway into the preserve. It’s a new species. Never seen anything like her before. She’s gorgeous, looks like she’s made of diamonds,” he said a little dreamily. “Lovely creature. Clutched four eggs within a month of landing. The Council hired me on to figure out what she is, where she came from. They figure there has to be at least one more of her kind out there somewhere since the clutch appears fertile. The eggs have shown consistent signs of life. But she’s brooding and I’ve used everything I know to get closer and she won’t have it.” 

“You’re a dragon whisperer?” 

“Keeper technically,” Charlie laughed. “But I like that. I’m the veteran keeper at the Romanian preserve. They were willing to lend me out for this one.”  
“Not sure what I can offer then,” he frowned. “Unless you need me to blow holes in something.” 

“No! No, please don’t, actually. I’ve come up with a theory that this dragon might be something different entirely. Most of the dragons I know are smart, adaptive, but not...not human levels of smart. This one is different. She learns incredibly quickly and she makes a lot of different...tones? Sounds? My theory is that her body is partially crystalline and she’s able to vibrate those crystals to communicate. You’re the only wizard with a sonic mastery on the registers.” 

“Because no one knew it was a thing before I manifested,” Cisco shrugged. “But okay, I can do sonics and you want me to what? Sing to her?” 

“Basically,” Charlie gave him a weak smile. “We’re really just picking at gelworms here, hoping something works. We’re preservationists and for all we know, this clutch of eggs are the only future of this species.” 

“You don’t have to convince me. The salary did that. Just point me in the right direction.” 

“The right direction is about a two hour hike. We’re not sure if outside magic will harm the clutch yet, so we’ve taken a mundane approach. Frankly, it’s one of the reasons I approve you coming in. Magical folk, even if they were born into muggle families, get too used to casual magic. They don’t even realize they’re doing it anymore.” 

“First time latent manifestation was a point in my favor.“

“That and you worked on a dark wizard defeating team. It took an army to take out Voldemort and you took down Zoom with two other latent magic users and a team of muggles,” Charlie’s chair dropped back down to the ground and he leaned across the desk. “Dragon keepers are a stoic bunch, so no one here will say it out loud, but you’re legendary.” 

“Barry is usually the one that gets the credit,” Cisco shrugged. “And it wasn’t the last thing any of us dealt with. Ancient history.” 

“Not to the wizarding world, Mr. Ramon. We forget very slowly and don’t much like taking on new things,” his expression was uncomfortably intense. Cisco dropped his eyes to the desk. 

“Well, I do. And there’s a lot I’d like to forget. So show me your dragon.” 

Like a balloon on a string, Harry followed behind them as they hiked into the forest. Charlie gave a few directions, then fell silent. It wasn’t uncomfortable really, more like Charlie had already spoken his fill for the day. 

The air was cool and fresh, the last gasps of summer filtered through the dense canopy of leaves. Occasionally, a colorful something would dart into their path and away again before he could get his eyes to focus on it. 

“We’re getting close,” Charlie said softly. He moved more slowly and Cisco mimicked him. 

The trees thinned out and the sound of rushing water became apparent. As the creek came into view, Charlie held up a hand and they came to a stop. 

“Oh sweet Mabel,” Cisco whispered. Unconsciously he groped for Harry’s hand, grateful for the familiar warmth and rasp of his skin. 

The dragon was massive and delicate, beautiful and terrifying. Awesome in the very original sense of the word. Her body was more serpentine than lizard as she stretched alongside the creek. Her scales looked like diamonds, flat broad segments that caught the light and scattered rainbows in every direction. Her head was equally broad and flat, coming to sharp point. The nostrils flared and one eye opened. The iris gleamed gold, the slit pupil black as night. 

The noise she made...Cisco could only describe it as a chime. 

“Hello, gorgeous,” he said softly. 

“As long as we stay at this distance, she usually leaves us alone,” Charlie whispered. “Any closer and she’ll dive bomb us. She’s done serious damage to a few of the other keepers with that beak. Her talons aren’t so hot either, but her legs are fairly short.” 

“I can’t see her wings.” 

“They blend into her back scales. The play of the light makes it hard to see.” 

She continued to observe them, the wait of her regard a palpable thing. Cisco held out a hand and closed his eyes. He knew, theoretically, that most wizards operated by spells. They had wands and words and years of formal training. They generally didn’t run so fast they could time travel or become ice people. The accelerator had woken up parts of them that should have stayed asleep. 

The dragon chimed again. This time, Cisco felt it over his entire body. A curious pinging. He hummed quietly for a moment until he found the right note. Then he sent out a weak wave pinging her right back. 

The dragon huffed, as if amused, gathered herself up and launched upwards. Her wings spread wide, an arch of refracted lighted. The rush of wind pushed downward knocked Cisco on his ass, Harry tumbling right along with them. Charlie let out a whoop of pure joy. He had managed to stay on his feet. 

“You’ll learn to square up when they take off,” he laughed, all the weathering in his face momentarily lifting into boyish joy. “You did something! That was the most peaceful encounter we’ve had yet.” 

“She’s amazing,” Cisco breathed out. 

Harry’s hand tightened around his in agreement. 

“And you do wandless magic,” Charlie realized. “Like a big powerful glut of it.” 

“Latent magic is wild magic,” Cisco gave him a half smile, the line drummed into him by Bethany, his assigned case manager. She was all of their managers: Barry, Caitlin, Jesse even when she was in his plane. Latent magic was a one in a million chance unless you accidently fucked with nature on a city wide scale. Bethany was probably the only person qualified on the continent, if not the hemisphere. 

Charlie looked him over with a slightly different tilt to his head, “Do you even carry a wand?” 

“Yes,” Cisco laughed, low and bitter. “All the time. But let’s say it’s unconventional and leave it at that.”

“I like you,” Charlie decided, clapping him on the shoulder. “We should head back before we lose the light. 

Much later, after the walk back and a dinner filled with introductions to other staff members, they got back to their cabin. Cisco shut the door and it was just the two of them again. Cisco stripped down, then kneeled to untie Harry’s shoes. Harry let him remove them, then set about doing the rest himself. He was able to follow routine, even though they weren’t home which was a relief. 

Clothes got folded neatly into a drawer, boxers and t-shirt for sleeping. They brushed their teeth side by side, Cisco put his hair back while Harry washed his face. It felt companionable. Normal. When they climbed into bed, Harry tilted his face for a kiss and Cisco gave him several. Kissing had always been Harry’s favorite and Cisco saw no reason to deny him now. Sex...that would’ve been a bridge too far, something that felt wrong even if Harry seemed to consent. 

But kissing was good. Soothing. For another long stretch of minutes, it was like nothing had changed at all. 

“Sing?” Harry asked when they parted. 

“Yeah, okay,” Cisco settled his hand between Harry’s shoulder blades. “Which one?” 

“Blackbirds.” 

Long ago and far away, the first time Cisco’s music had taken form with magic, Harry had pretended to be annoyed by it. 

“The pens are dancing,” he’d hissed, batting them away with the back of his hand. “If you’re a single lady it’s because you keep making writing implements harass people” 

But Cisco knew better. He saw how Harry watched them all when they used their magic, the speculative glint of interest. The way he’d lean a little closer. How when he thought Cisco wasn’t looking, he’d held out a hand and let a few of the pens alight to do their best shimmy. How he’d smiled fondly like they were errant pets. 

Harry smiles like that most of the time now. It doesn’t warm Cisco the same way. It just makes him sad. 

“Blackbird singing in the dead of night,” he sang quietly, letting the words swell out. No dancing pencils, just an outline of a bird taking flight, soaring through their borrowed bedroom as he let the song spill out of him. 

By the end Harry was asleep, his hair soft against Cisco’s palm. 

He got a pen out of his bag and scratched a quick note off to Barry and Caitlin.

_Got here safe._ he wrote. Trying to think of what else to say. There was nothing. He sang a few more notes, resummoning the blackbird, it appeared reluctantly now and took the note with spectral talons before flying off into the night. 

Safe. They were safe enough here in a sanctuary for enormous beasts. He fell asleep thinking about the job, how to communicate with an animal that spoke in music. 

Breakfast was a rush through the hall, Charlie putting coffee in their hands, 

“I’m guessing you’d prefer this over tea.” 

“Yes, thanks,” Cisco cradled his cup close. 

“I’ve got bagels and donuts in my pack,” Charlie gestured. “There was a spotting last night close by. I think maybe she moved her clutch. We have to check it out.” 

Cisco’s stomach rumbled irritably, but he just nodded and followed Charlie. Even with at least twenty years on Cisco, Charlie moved with a brisk energy that he could only dream about. The long red braid swayed back and forth, a hypnotic target for Cisco’s attention as they moved through the dew soaked underbrush. 

There were more birds this early in the day, singing back and forth. The leaves crunched under light footed animals as well as their own heavy hiking boots. The forest seemed more alive, less like a magical grove and more like a regular old forest. 

So of course there was a crystal dragon lounging across a wide tree branch like that’s exactly where she was meant to be. Her tail hung down like an inverted question mark, tapping against the trunk. 

“You know what?” Cisco said as they came to a halt at respectful distance from her, “This is like...just all of magic for me.” 

“Hm?” Charlie was taking out some kind of bizarre mechanism, setting it in front of them. 

“Just the world I’ve already known except there’s a dragon in the middle of it.” 

Harry sat down next to Charlie’s mechanism, one long finger coming in for a poke. Charlie didn’t slap it away, instead he squatted down and pointed, 

“Okay, so this is a pyrogauge. It tells us if a dragon is heating up to deliver some fire in our face,” he turned a small wheel and a metronome like ticking started. “But I think our girl here isn’t a fire maker. A lot of species aren’t. So I’ve been messing with it a little and it should tell us if the frequency of her chimes is getting higher or lower. I’m thinking maybe she’s making noises to low or high for us to hear.” 

“That’s really brilliant,” Cisco got down on his knees, ignoring the leaves crinkling below them. “I didn’t know you were inventor.” 

“It’s a hobby,” Charlie smiled down at the device. “My Dad instilled a love of machines into us. His fascination is with Muggle stuff though.” 

“That’s right, it’s really insulated in England, right?” Cisco resisted picking the pyrogauge up and opening it up to see how it worked. “That magical community, I mean.” 

“Way more than it is here,” Charlie agreed. “It’s the first time I’ve spent more than a vacation in the States and it keeps surprising me. A lot of the staff here live in non-magical neighborhoods for half the year and here during the clutch season. It’d give me whiplash.” 

“I’ve only been to one magical neighborhood,” he admitted. “And that was only for an afternoon class. They wanted me to prepare for and take some standardized test, but I gave up after a few weeks. Just got my apperation license and got out of there.” 

“Do you do any traditional spells?” Charlie as studying him more than the mechanism. 

“I can do the stuff they teach kids if I have to. Make lights and levitate small objects. Whatever was in the first textbook they gave me. Potions are over complicated for what they do. If I have a headache, I’ll just take ibuprofen or something. Arithmancy is interesting, I’m teaching it to myself, but it’s easy since I’ve got a strong base in math,” he leaned against the tree behind him. Harry shuffled over, pressing his shoulder against him. 

“It’s funny, I grew up with muggle born magical people and they were always in love with magic,” Charlie shifted too, gazing up at the dragon who regarded them with unblinking eyes. 

“I love the idea of it,” he agreed. “I just don’t know that I love myself doing it. It’s a lot of power and it can go to your head.” 

“You’ve seen a lot of dark wizards.” 

“Yeah, that doesn’t help the cause,” beside him Harry started picking a knot of delicate wildflowers growing at the base of the tree. “I notice there aren’t a lot of ethics classes on the wizard curriculum.” 

“That’s changing,” he sighed, “slowly. It’s hard for us. We’ve never needed to advance really. Magic moves forward of course, in it’s own stodgy way, we improve things. But our society doesn’t. Even after the war....I thought we’d see progress. Change. My generation is trying, but the people older than us, they’re still so afraid. They just want everything to be like it was.” 

“Fear is the mind killer.” 

“Yeah, something like that.” 

The dragon was slidingly very slowly around and off her branch. It reminded Cisco of a waking snake feeling out its territory. The pyrogauge twitched up and down. Ever so slightly. Cisco hummed a guess at the notes, bringing them down to a human octave. Up and down. The end of a question. 

He raised his hand and repeated the notes to her. She stopped her movement, her held tilting more doglike than snake in an instant. She chimed audibly this time, the same up and down questioning inflection. 

“We’re here to help you,” Charlie said evenly. “We want to protect your eggs as much as you do.” 

“Can they understand human language?” 

“No, but that’s never stopped me before. Sometimes the really bright ones can learn some key words. Most of them at my homebase can at least catch their names.” 

The dragon huffed and a warm gust of air filled the clearing, sending leaves dancing around them. Her front claws reached the ground and she stretched, light rippling in a dazzling dance over her skin. Then she was out of the tree entirely and just a few feet away. The reality of her size was daunting and up close, Cisco could see wear and tear on her beautiful hide. Scratches over the scales and the occasional bits of debris caught between them. There was a wicked scar over one of her eyes. They could hear her breathing now, a musical whistle in and out. The pyrogauge jostled again, a series of three notes and then she was turning and walking away. 

“I think we’ve been invited to follow,” Charlie stood quickly, scooping up the device. 

“How can you tell?” 

“Well, she didn’t fly off, so that’s a good sign.” 

Watching the enormous body move lightly and easily through the dense trees was a treat all on it’s own. They followed with a ten foot different between them and end of her tail (“Sometimes they whip them around and you can get a good lashing out of it,” Charlie explained.) 

Cisco hummed to himself as they went, aware that the soft noises seemed to be keeping her close. Every time he stopped, she sped up, giving him impatient glares. 

Then in a stand of trees that looked like they had perished in flames was her nest. A depression in the ground with a stand of still water that smelled a little off putting and cradled three perfectly round eggs. They were pearlescent, gleaming in the sun. She chimed as quietly as they’d heard her attempt and the eggs quivered. 

“Right,” Charlie beamed. “Good job, Mama. You’re a smart old girl, aren’t you? Understood everything.” 

She preened a little, curling up beside the nest. Her breath came out in steady puffs, the stream of air gently rippling over the water, bobbling the eggs. 

“What does she understand?” Cisco crouched by the edge of the water, hypnotized by the rocking eggs. 

“She’s not where she should be. I bet she’s from a wet place. Swamp or marsh maybe. Whatever ran her off of there, must’ve been horrifying. She had to hide her clutch, this was the closest safe haven, but it’s not how she’s meant to have her eggs. She found something close enough, but she needed help. She’s been luring us in, I think.” 

“So we can help? But shouldn’t she be afraid of us?” 

“Dragons,” Charlie said with a laugh, “have never been afraid of humans. That’s why they’re so hard to tame.” 

Cisco frowned, “So we’ll help, but how?” 

“I guess we have to figure out what she needs,” he stuck his hand into the water. “It’s cold.” 

“You think it needs to warmer?” 

“Maybe. We’ll have to build some experimental nests. See if we can get her to try them out.” 

“Can we make them closer to the base?” Cisco asked, standing with a wince. “Because I’m guessing dragons don’t like you just popping in and out on them.” 

They got back to the base by lunch, ate ravenously, then started sketching out their plans. Charlie raised dozens of considerations, then eliminated them one by one with a gathering group of interested dragon keepers. 

“Okay, but that’s not going to work,” a woman with a crown of braids and eyes bright as stars leaned over Charlie’s shoulders and plucked the quill out of his hands, “she may be water inclined, but she’s not an aquatic or she’d never have come to such a landlocked place.” 

“And she found standing water,” a man with the scar sliced deep over on eye, nose and jaw, put in. “Go with your first instinct. Marsh or swamp. I’ve got a friend who works a preserve in Florida, I’ll contact them.” 

“Bogs too,” the woman with the braids nodded, sketching out a small hut like structure. “Something dense and still. We could hang spell up a few fairy lights to look like will o’wisps. Horrid things, but they might make her feel at home.” 

Cisco mostly listened. Harry was playing with his hair, and it was soothing. 

With all the instant industry of wizards, there were four test locations set up the next morning all within a half mile of the camp. Charlie showed him each location and explained the variants while Cisco nodded. 

“So how do we get her to try them?” he asked as they stared into the murky depths of a fabricated bog. 

“Well, that’s where you come in.” 

They trekked out again to the dragon’s improvised nest. She was waiting by the edge of the pond, one eye lazily shut, the other alert as they got close. Quietly Cisco started to hum. She tilted her head at him and chimed back. Then he turned and walked away. For a moment, he was sure it wouldn’t work and then what? 

But eventually he heard the crunch of leaves behind him as she followed. 

It was an odd afternoon, leading her from spot to spot. At each one, she tested the water with a single be-clawed foot. Harry kept laughing at her, but could not be coaxed into explaining what was funny. At the third site, the warmest and most swamp like, she made a noise that was almost insect like then leaped up into the air. 

“Ha!” Charlie fist pumped. “I think we got her.” 

They waited in the sheltering tree. They didn’t have to wait long. She appeared in a crystalline fury, her wings sending rainbows all over the forest floor and splashing down into the miniature swamp. The eggs bobbled and settled and she immediately started fussing over them, rolling them to suit herself. 

“Let’s get out of her way,” Charlie decided. “I’ll set up a few passive monitoring spells.” 

Two days passed with no changes. She stayed with her brood, reluctantly going out to hunt then returning and sleeping at the edge of the water. 

“C’mon and eat dinner with us tonight,” Charlie encouraged. “We don’t bite.” 

The mess was loud, but the keepers were interesting and Cisco did relax in their company enough to tell a few jokes. But as the night went on, Harry became visibly unsettled. He would start to stand then sit down, brow furrowed. 

“You want to go back to the cabin?” Cisco offered again and again, but Harry would only shake his head and scoot closer. 

Just after dessert, Harry sprang to his feet again and this time he started running. 

 

“Shit!” Cisco went after him. 

“What’s going on?” Charlie called out. 

“I don’t know!” 

He followed him out into the night. There were pretty spell lights dotted everywhere, but Harry was moving out into the woods. Cursing, Cisco plunged in after him following his shadow in the dark. 

He fell at one point, but got back up ignoring the wet heat pouring down from his knee. 

A minute later he emerged into the dragon’s swamp. Harry was a mere yard away from her, his hand reaching toward her. 

“Don’t!” Cisco warned. The dragon’s head swivelled up. Her nostrils were flared and her teeth bared. Cisco’s heart seized. But she didn’t strike. She was looking at her eggs. They weren’t moving, nothing seemed to have changed. None of Charlie’s spells had been tripped. 

Then she chimed. The loudest, most aggressive one Cisco had heard. Her eggs...ever so faintly, so quiet he almost didn’t hear, chimed back.

She repeated the sound. Only one egg rang back this time, almost a whisper of a sound. Harry reached out and touched her. She didn’t even acknowledge the hand at her side. 

“More,” Harry looked up at Cisco. “She needs more sound.” 

There was no time to question the kind of certainty that only Harry could level when he was at his best. Even if he hadn’t sounded like that in nearly a year. Cisco started to sing. The dragon bobbed her head and rang out another note that he could mimic. Together their voice was a little stronger, but the egg’s returning note was fainter still. 

Charlie reached them then, “What the hell is going on?” 

“We need everyone,” Cisco didn’t turn to look at him. “I don’t think the apperation will bother her now. Get them all here and tell them they need to sing.” 

And Charlie stood up just a little straighter and his eyes were sharp. He disappeared and reappeared bare seconds later. Wizards and witches started popping in from all over. Cisco rang out the note and they all tried their best to mimic it without question. The glen filled with the ringing noise. The second egg started chiming back again, matching them. 

“More!” Harry demanded. 

“There isn’t any more!” Charlie yelled back. 

Cisco was trying to concentrate on being as loud as he could without losing the note. He barely registered Harry lacing his fingers through his. 

“Finite-” he heard and the whole word froze. 

“Harry no!” 

“Incantium Omnis,” Harry finished calmly. 

“NO!” 

But it was too late. The power rushed through Cisco, heady and naustating and too much too quickly. It was getting drunk in a single sip. The dragon made a frantic sound. Cisco’s hand closed around his wand, solid and sure in his hand. 

He sang out the note and his power rose through him in a tidal wave. It was the sound of a dozen dragons. The eggshells shattered, shard flying every direction. Three dragonlets, each the size of a large dog stepped free of the shrapnel. Their small voices chimed with their mother’s. 

Cisco clutched at his wand, throat torn to shit and his knee still aching. Harry was in collapsed heap at his feet. He dropped to his knees, checked for a pulse and almost sobbed in relief when he found one. 

“Does he need a mediwizard?” someone asked. 

“I need Caitlin,” Cisco said numbly. “Someone...please.” 

“Who’s Caitlin?” 

“Caitlin Snow, she’s a doctor. She knows our case.” He held Harry’s hand tightly. “As soon as you can.” 

An hour later, they were in their cabin. Harry was still unconscious, but at least Caitlin was there and speaking in animated whispers with a team of mediwards. Someone had healed Cisco’s knee, but his throat still ached. 

Charlie pulled up a chair beside him. 

“You know when you said you always had your want with you, I thought you meant in your pocket or something.” 

“Yeah,” Cisco scrubbed his face with his free hand. “Well.” 

“How does that even happen?” 

“I didn’t even want the stupid thing,” Cisco stared at the twig in his lap. “Bethany insisted. You can’t be a wizard without a wand.” 

“I don’t know about that,” Charlie touched his own absently, “I know there was a time before wands, but I wasn’t much of a history student.” 

“Harry thought it was interesting. I let him study it instead of carrying it around with me. I didn’t think muggles could do anything with them anyway,” he shook his head. “But Harry’s always been too smart for his own good.” 

“What’d he do?” 

“We were trying to take down this guy...the details don’t matter. But Harry thought if he could tap into my wand’s power that he could do more against him. We have his research, so we have a general idea of what did, but I couldn’t tell you exactly how it happened. Maybe being so close to the fall out of his own accelerator, he had just enough to make it work.” 

“So he...what? Absorbed your wand?” 

“He became it.” 

“A person can’t be a wand.” 

“But he was.” 

They both stared at Harry’s inert body. Caitlin stepped in beside Cisco, squeezing his shoulder. 

“He’ll wake up on his own,” she said quietly. “But there’s no telling what he’ll be like when he does. He could be his old self, what he’s been like the last few months...” 

“Or just not be Harry at all,” Cisco filled in. “Yeah. He knew that. He knew the risk of ending that spell and he did it anyway. For some goddamn stupid dragons.” 

“To save a life,” she countered. 

“Right,” Cisco said bitterly. “Because that’s what we do.” 

He wanted to stay right there with Harry, but the mediwizards wanted to do some tests. They shooed him away, suggested he get something to eat. 

Instead he went for a long walk, his feet carrying him to the nest. The dragonlets were curled up against their mother. They were magical and beautiful and he hated them. He sat down against the base of a tree. 

He closed his eyes, infinitely exhausted. He must’ve dozed off for a moment because otherwise he surely would’ve hear her. Instead he felt the puff of hot breath on his face and it stirred him back to consciousness. The dragon stared at him, her gaze a palatable weight on his face. 

“Hey,” he sucked in a breath. 

She made inquiring rising noise just as she had on that first day. 

“My partner is sick,” he told her. “I don’t know if he can get better. He sacrificed himself for you. Do you know what that means?” 

She rested her snout on top of his head for a moment so quick he wasn’t entirely sure it happened. Then she took a step back and sang. It wasn’t the chime of communication or the sustained note that shattered her babies eggs. It was a full blown song, wordless, but the tune was familiar to him. 

“Blackbird singing in the dead of night,” he sang softly along. Had she heard him singing all those nights ago? Was her ear that finely tuned?

When she finished, she chirped and turned away from him. Apparently their business was concluded. He watched her fuss over the dragonlets for a few more minutes, then got to his feet and made his way back to the cabin. 

“Cisco!” Caitlin called to him from the doorway. “He’s asking for you!” 

He found another burst of energy to run to her, past her, right to Harry who was sitting up in bed frowning. 

“Harry?” 

“There you are,” he said and it wasn’t the sweet cloudy voice of his wand addled brain, but the acidic fondness that was burned forever into Cisco’s heart. “I had the strangest dream.” 

“Was I there, Dorothy?” he asked with a choked laugh. 

“The whole time,” Harry watched him carefully. “Even though I was a fool.” 

“I liked foolish you. He was quiet.” 

“I meant...I meant that I was foolish to experiment with what I didn’t understand. I never meant to leave you.” 

“You didn’t,” Cisco sat down beside him on the bed. “You were here and I was with you.” 

“I heard a song...” he blinked a little. “I heard you singing, but Caitlin said you weren’t here.”

“Yeah, the dragon decided to pay back you’re stunt apparently,” he took Harry’s hand in his. “You scared the absolute shit out of me, you know that?”

“I guessed,” Harry rested his head on Cisco’s shoulder. 

“So have we learned our lesson?” he asked, a little choked. “No more playing with magic?” 

“No more playing without you around,” Harry countered. “You can’t expect me to stop entirely.” 

It only took a few days for Harry to fully recover and start harassing the preserves staff with a thousand questions about dragons, other magical creatures, how they recorded information, and why they apparently didn’t have any scientific journals. Mostly Cisco trailed behind him in a comfortable role reversal. 

Sometimes though they visited the dragon. She gave them no more notice than stone. 

“You did us a big favor,” Charlie offered up his thickly calloused hand when they were ready to go. “I owe you one.” 

“We got paid,” Cisco shrugged. “But if you ever want to visit us, you’re welcome. Maybe we could show you how we do things Muggle style.” 

“You know I might take you up on that,” Charlie grinned. “If you don’t mind that I bring my Dad.” 

They walked out of the preserve the same way they came in. A flock of blackbirds flew over their heads, while Cisco hummed and their hands swung locked together between them.


End file.
